tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68431101967251588582012-01-27T18:17:39.012-08:00Living and Dyeing in the Pacific NorthwestScarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.comBlogger2131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-17521147350696901492012-01-27T18:17:00.000-08:002012-01-27T18:17:39.045-08:00

I'm in the middle of a series of wholesale orders right now, and here's the latest. Click on the photo for a link to my Flickr, where you can see colorway names. This one's for Apple Yarns, here in Bellingham. This time, my favorite was Sleeping Bear with Turquoise. This is a very old colorway--I dyed it for Apple Yarns right before the holidays, and it was so popular that she asked for it

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-35400489297367594602012-01-26T09:48:00.000-08:002012-01-26T09:50:50.216-08:00

I filed my state taxes last night. There was no whining. There was minimal confusion and delay. And they're not even due until next Tuesday. Could it be that I have finally turned a new accounting leaf? Well, not entirely; my good intentions of downloading and categorizing all my PayPal records on a monthly basis didn't really happen. But I did enter all my wholesale and fiber show sales as they

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-24915129038561940502012-01-16T23:22:00.000-08:002012-01-16T23:23:21.696-08:00

Valentine's Day is coming up, so naturally a young dyer's fancy turns to thoughts of ... bromance. At Universal Mama, our theme this month is famous couples, and instead of doing Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, or Romeo and Juliet, I wanted to do something just a little off-kilter. Over the past year, I've listened to all of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series (sometimes called the Master and

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-26123376203404133712012-01-08T10:13:00.000-08:002012-01-16T23:24:01.198-08:00

Yesterday was NWRSA's St. Distaff's Day spin-in. No icy roads this year, so there were nearly twice as many spinners as in 2011--a guild member told me that there were 275 people who signed in this year, versus last year's 150. As usual with the small events where I've got an hour to set up, I forgot to take photos till pretty late in the day, so I'm afraid I didn't bother at that point. I was

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-62166198215881540572012-01-02T11:07:00.000-08:002012-01-26T09:52:17.837-08:00

Yesterday we did the annual Polar Bear Dip in Lake Padden. My husband got it into his head that he wanted to do it, the boy eagerly agreed, and I decided I wasn't going to get left out. We were first-timers, and I was astonished by the number of crazy people in Bellingham who were willing to do this. The parking lots at the lake were filled and cars were parked all along the road--there were

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-70303716500911399982011-11-04T16:25:00.001-07:002011-11-04T16:25:33.671-07:00

pretty, a photo by connormarie on Flickr.This may be the prettiest thing I've ever dyed. Though I just thought that about some other fiber that I dyed three days ago. Perhaps I'm more fickle than I realized.85/15 Polwarth/silk. I think I might be keeping this for myself, at least till I see if I can replicate it.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-81949857425409354702011-10-20T00:55:00.000-07:002011-11-18T01:13:17.020-08:00

Back from a week in the Northeast. There is no better place than New England in the autumn. The chilly nights give the morning air a wonderful crispness, the sky is the most intense blue, and the leaves are the most glorious colors. Although this year the foliage was very inconsistent--some areas were mostly green, and a mile later the foliage had all turned. I did a lot of the driving on this

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-41183954756644826582011-09-09T16:56:00.001-07:002011-10-20T08:10:47.269-07:00

When I originally dyed this combination of colorways, it made me think of the ocean and its infinite variety of blues and greens. I named it Westward, after the schooner that I sailed on during my off-campus semester in college at Williams-Mystic. We spent 10 days on the Westward, sailing through the Bahamas. Although I felt like I spent most of my time on the voyage trapped in the lab,

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-70929894876705592702011-09-02T11:21:00.000-07:002011-12-01T00:10:57.778-08:00

I had this grand design of using August to list a bunch of yarn and fiber online. Instead, I finished two orders that were originally scheduled to be completed before Sock Summit, before leaving on a long-planned two-week vacation (camping in the Canadian Okanagan, the Kootenay region, and Fort Spokane in eastern Washington). It was a great trip; I still have to look at my photos and see if I

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-66823076424192398112011-08-11T13:54:00.000-07:002011-08-11T13:54:38.826-07:00

After SS, I took a few days off, and then wrapped up a couple of orders that I wasn't able to finish before the show. This morning I dropped off a small sock yarn order for Apple Yarns. I was a little startled to see that the 60-plus skeins that I delivered in March and May have dwindled down to six. Thanks, knitters and crocheters! I'm not sure how long this new stock will last. They're mostly

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-88213125319729246012011-08-01T13:53:00.000-07:002011-08-01T13:56:19.074-07:00

In a word: AWESOME. Sold scads of yarn, saw old friends, made some new ones, ate great food, drank great beer, and was surrounded by color and fiber and lovely people. A few photos of the booth I was sharing with my friend Diane of BugSnugger. I had been playing with my white balance in my photography class earlier and forgot to reset it, and there's only so much photo editing can do,

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-62990002792321513482011-07-13T12:08:00.000-07:002011-07-13T12:08:30.368-07:00

I leave for Sock Summit two weeks from today. I'm pretty sure that scientists didn't have SS in mind when they came up with the term "event horizon," but it fits. I have crossed the point of no return, and am now being sucked inexorably into the black hole of prep. At the same time, I've been trying to not repeat the summer of 2009, where I spent every waking and half-waking moment dyeing for

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-82829557331512082782011-06-29T10:44:00.000-07:002011-06-29T11:06:26.890-07:00

Thank you all for a wonderful show! (More photos on my Flickr.) It was a terrific weekend and I loved meeting so many fiber lovers. And particular thanks to those of you who showed me projects and yarns that you'd made from goodies that you'd previously bought from me. I really love seeing what my babies grow up to be. Like this gorgeous shawl from coordinating handspun (BFL/silk in the Red

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-12091600241326834832011-05-30T21:58:00.000-07:002011-05-30T21:59:51.192-07:00

I'm at OFFF--the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival. It's held at a school, and I have a good booth location; not at the main entrance, but just inside one of the side entrances. My friends are helping me move my stuff in, and I leave them to set up the booth while I go shopping for spindles. Hey, the shoppers can wait while I get this taken care of. I talk with the vendor and she helps me decide on

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-7317501785058981312011-05-19T11:44:00.000-07:002011-05-19T11:44:53.149-07:00

The LYS Tour starts today, and this morning I dropped off a small order at Apple Yarns to supplement their current stock of my yarns. This is all on Willow BFL/nylon sock yarn. I'm also happy to announce that after the summer show season, I'll be adding another LYS on the tour, NW Handspun, to my retailers. They've got a lovely selection of yarns as well as spinning fibers and tools. My

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-29294245316126799002011-05-12T12:24:00.000-07:002011-05-13T13:35:47.527-07:00

I leave for Black Sheep Gathering six weeks from today, and much to my surprise, I'm on track with my preparation. Amazing how a skein or braid of roving here and there can add up when you start early enough. My goal was to bring triple the amount of fiber that I had last year, and it looks like I'm on pace to have closer to quadruple. My BFL/silk blend (like the photo above) is definitely

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-15584343124097533312011-05-02T23:17:00.000-07:002011-05-02T23:17:52.858-07:00

I'm afraid to say this, but I think I might be caught up. I mean, not totally, as in I have nothing on the dye schedule, because I still have a lot, but that sense of panic has eased up. Fiber club is shipped, yarn club is shipped, and three wholesale orders (including the one shown above, which is now up at Pulling at Strings, here and here) went out the door last month. I have a couple of

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-78471472531579333572011-04-14T22:25:00.000-07:002011-04-14T23:03:28.335-07:00

but I will say that taxes this year are hurting my head. Plus I'm pretty sure that I have to figure out estimated taxes for the 1st quarter of 2011 by tomorrow. I don't know if the tax return deadline of April 18 applies to estimated taxes, too, and the IRS web site is down right now (no surprise). [Edit: the estimated tax deadline is also 4/18.] I do think that I will finally be able to set up

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-7271037192297160212011-04-03T21:23:00.001-07:002011-04-03T21:43:36.540-07:00

2011 Whidbey spin-in, a photo by connormarie on Flickr.I spent 10 days during the second half of March in bed with the flu, which was pretty much zero fun and I had to miss my Cookie A class because of it (sob). Then as soon as I got back on my feet, I was catching up with a few projects and prepping for the Whidbey Weavers Guild's spin-in this weekend. I tried to tell myself to just be happy

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-12662548256828169802011-03-16T02:21:00.000-07:002011-03-16T02:31:28.168-07:00

For the past year, I've been trying out different superwash worsted yarns. I have Trillium, which I love for its softness and amiability during dyeing; it is very gracious about accepting dye, unlike some yarns that need to be coaxed, begged, or threatened. And it's one of the few truly squishy yarns that I've encountered--four plies, so it's very smooth, tight enough to avoid splittiness, yet

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-68423531862709990572011-03-02T22:42:00.000-08:002011-03-02T22:43:55.809-08:00

I finished Rogue's first sleeve! I may really end up with a completed sweater this time. Though for some reason, I keep thinking about the Grimm's fairy tale where seven (six?) brothers are turned into swans, and their poor sister has to sew them all shirts by the appointed day, or else they'll stay swans forever. To add insult to injury, the poor girl has to remain mute for the seven years that

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-51989397637118227432011-03-01T19:53:00.000-08:002011-03-01T20:02:33.527-08:00

Nothing surprised me more last year than how well my spinning fibers sold at shows. It was amazing, and humbling. It does leave me in a bit of a bind for online sales; since my fiber essentially sells out at each show, I'm always building up inventory for the next show, and don't have much to list at Etsy. So I'm introducing a fiber club, beginning this month. The subscription is for three

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-75939126122305953912011-02-18T00:00:00.000-08:002011-02-18T00:02:26.322-08:00

The first week as my own full-time boss has been pretty tiring. I split skeins and otherwise wrapped up a group order, tinkered (again) with my photography setup, took many, many pictures of yarn, edited photos, put up some listings at Etsy, dyed a sock club order, and squandered countless hours on the internet reading reviews of the Aubrey-Maturin series. I also finished reading Life by Keith

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-59155107588794597422011-02-10T00:43:00.000-08:002011-06-29T11:05:03.071-07:00

Friday is my last day at my job. I have been there for 11 years, but for many good reasons--dyeing yarn is way more fun, I was tired of people hating me just because I worked for a government agency (at least hate me for something personal I did to you), we refinanced our house at an absurdly low rate that opened up our financial options--I will now be a full-time dyer! I am so excited. I'm

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-90980260322846051812011-01-24T17:52:00.000-08:002011-06-29T11:05:16.859-07:00

Since August, I have been dealing with a headache of a return, for a transaction that occurred at Midwest Folk & Fiber. I had already paid the state of Illinois the sales tax that I collected for all of my transactions there. I contacted the Special Events division of their dept of revenue, and she made it sound like it would be simple to get my sales tax refunded for that transaction--just get a

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-86532946039985598622011-01-21T23:11:00.000-08:002011-02-03T02:14:29.888-08:00

Last week I visited my parents in Massachusetts. While I was there, my mother asked me if I wanted any of my old yarn. I couldn't remember buying yarn as a kid, but apparently my stashing instincts started young. I think back then, given my 50-cent weekly allowance, my main consideration was price. Sparkly was a bonus. That must have been during my rainbows and unicorns glitter sticker phase.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-76985971703948546992010-12-19T11:47:00.000-08:002010-12-19T22:46:56.820-08:00

Yesterday, when I stocked some fiber at Etsy, I set a new record for number of visitors--triple my previous daily record. Thanks so much, and I'll list more fiber after my January 8 show, if there's any left. I tend to sell out my roving/top at shows, and it takes me a while to build my stock back up so I rarely have any to list online. Must figure out way to up my production ...

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-7687911811898382522010-12-15T23:03:00.000-08:002011-10-06T23:05:23.100-07:00

Here are the shows where I'll have a booth in 2011: January 8 ~ St. Distaff's Day Spin-In, Everett, WA April 2-3 ~ Whidbey Weavers Guild Spin-In, Oak Harbor, WA June 24-26 ~ Black Sheep Gathering, Eugene, OR July 28-31 ~ Sock Summit, Portland, OR September 24-25 ~ Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival, Canby, OR October 14-15 ~ Fibers and Beyond, Bellingham, WA (I will be attending Rhinebeck instead) I

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-17447689037445568092010-12-01T23:04:00.000-08:002010-12-01T23:50:46.681-08:00

It's been a surprisingly long time since I blogged. I've been busy with wholesale orders for my LYS, Apple Yarns, including a limited edition sock colorway for the holidays. Andrea, the owner, asked for something that would evoke toys under the Christmas tree, and this is what I came up with: This is Toy Chest, hand-painted on Willow sock yarn (80% superwash BFL, 20% nylon). It's only

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-40483369482482903302010-10-14T21:59:00.000-07:002010-10-14T21:59:22.761-07:00

Brought 50 skeins of Willow sock yarn (80% BFL, 20% nylon) to Apple Yarns today. Left to right: McIntosh (Apple Yarns exclusive), Snowfall, Limitless, Persimmon, Spruce, Tropical Bloom (top), Inked, and Slate. McIntosh and Snowfall are restocks of two colorways from late summer that sold out really quickly. If you want 'em, now's the time. :)

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-32284614859301854332010-10-12T16:56:00.000-07:002010-10-12T16:59:03.394-07:00

My last show of the year is my home show, the Whatcom Weavers Guild's Fibers and Beyond annual sale. It will be this Friday evening (6-9 p.m.) and all day Saturday (9 a.m. - 4 p.m.). It's a lot more than just yarn and spinning fiber--beautiful woven pieces, jewelry, handmade dolls, and gorgeous hand-knitted and crocheted items. Friday evening is usually a madhouse. I really wanted some Christmas

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-79983229714488925702010-10-10T00:00:00.000-07:002010-10-10T00:17:45.319-07:00

I'm done buying yarn. I really mean it this time. I haven't bought that much in the past two years, certainly not as much as I would have liked, so honestly I thought things were pretty much under control. I bought three skeins (and, okay, three sweater lots, but I used two of those lots immediately, and four pounds of merino/silk/cashmere for $100 was an insanely good deal) in 2009, and six

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-1496745767933802912010-09-29T14:06:00.000-07:002010-09-29T14:06:13.300-07:00

Luckily, to make up for my lameness in not taking photos of my own, a roving OFFF photographer got a photo of my booth last weekend. As with Black Sheep, my Vine Yoke cardigan (the red sweater in front) got lots of attention. That freestanding wire cube tower has my new silk/merino fingering yarn in the top cube, and the remnants of the Silk & Silver skeins in the second cube. Most of the Silk

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-83334719459214386192010-09-27T00:42:00.000-07:002010-09-27T00:42:33.958-07:00

I'm back from an awesome weekend in Canby. It was amazing! On Saturday, the weather was glorious. You could tell people were happy to be there--lots of old friends greeting each other, and smiling faces all around. Customers from Sock Summit and Black Sheep came by to say hi, which was all sorts of cool. Today was rather soggy, even by PNW standards, so it was pretty quiet for the lawn vendors,

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-4583750318981505402010-09-21T00:06:00.000-07:002010-09-21T00:06:49.950-07:00

I wasn't expecting to go to OFFF this year. I didn't apply to be a vendor until after I came back from Black Sheep, and there were too many other vendors ahead of me.But yesterday, I got word that another vendor had pulled out, and did I still want a booth? I had to think about it a bit, since I haven't been dyeing for the show, and I wanted to be sure I could pull off a good booth. But I decided

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-3340041159832244402010-09-18T16:38:00.000-07:002010-09-18T16:52:44.423-07:00

I'm quite picky about stitch markers. I like them to have no joins, to start with. Anything with a jump ring is out; they always get caught on my yarn or knitting, and I'd rather just use stray bits of yarn tied into loops. Split rings are okay, as they have a lesser tendency to snag. But my preference for both aesthetics and performance are markers with wires that have been twisted into a loop.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-85527166486501907562010-09-09T23:29:00.000-07:002010-09-09T23:36:03.814-07:00

After tweaking and photo editing trial-and-error to get a look that I like, my Etsy is now stocked and open for business!http://huckleberryknits.etsy.comI've also listed pre-orders for Inked and Centurion at my HC store. The way these work is that you choose your base yarn(s) and I dye those colorways to order. The pre-orders will close at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on Sept 14.http://hyenacart.com/

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-5064362815308330662010-09-02T00:27:00.000-07:002010-09-02T00:37:18.414-07:00

I've mostly been knitting lately. Shawls, a new mitt pattern, and restarting my Salina sweater. I've also been working on setting up my Etsy shop. I surprised myself a bit by the banner that I designed; it wasn't what I had in mind when I started, but I got to playing around with gradient fills and this is what I ended up with:(You'll need to click on the image to see the whole thing; my blog

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-54549694666270424962010-08-04T20:03:00.000-07:002010-08-04T20:08:51.069-07:00

Yarn club is starting up again this month! Eight slots will open up at noon ET this Friday. http://hyenacart.com/prod_details.php?id=89259&vid=465This club is designed to be super flexible. You get two colorway options and a variety of base yarns to choose from. Get just one skein or as many as you want. This is an every other month club, so you won’t be bombarded with yarn constantly. I’m

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-9871861191659050582010-07-24T22:38:00.000-07:002010-07-24T22:40:42.330-07:00

A fellow dyer, Kim of Green Strings/Sugarbubbie, has been going through some tough times. The latest blow came when her four-year-old son was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. He is currently receiving treatment three hours from home. Her husband receives his final unemployment check this month. They are in a very difficult situation, as you might imagine.Her business partner has organized a charity

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-50055550634716732802010-07-21T00:27:00.000-07:002010-07-21T07:59:10.969-07:00

I'm back now from MWFF, and full of energy and excitement. I had a fun show! I shared a booth with my friend Diane of Bugsnugger, dyer of all things fresh and pretty. She was awesome and brought all the fixtures, though during setup, as we kept pulling skeins out of our bags and arranging them on shelves, we came to the unsettling realization that we had too much yarn for our fixtures. So we went

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-26306209482004104272010-07-14T00:44:00.000-07:002010-07-14T00:55:36.936-07:00

My yarn arrived safely in Illinois today, I'm happy to say. I had visions of my yarn strewn for miles behind an oblivious FedEx truck somewhere in the Great Plains.I fly out tomorrow with my five-year-old, armed with my new netbook, my even newer DVD drive, and four episodes of Bill Nye the Science Guy. My child is obsessed with him. He's adopted Bill's nervous laugh, draws pictures of him in

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-2055300911153235882010-07-06T01:54:00.000-07:002010-07-06T02:12:04.360-07:00

Somebody PLEASE shoot me the next time I decide to sign up for two shows three weeks apart. I sold more than I expected at Black Sheep (a good problem to have!) and consequently have less to bring to Midwest Fiber and Folk than I wanted, especially in the roving/top department. I'm shipping the bulk of my yarn on Wednesday. I'll try to make up some of the difference this week, but I don't know.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-28163935387032418022010-06-24T00:14:00.000-07:002010-06-24T10:46:40.707-07:00

After a week of late nights (3 a.m. was an early bedtime), it was a relief to get to Eugene. I was ridiculously excited by the prospect of being unable to dye anything, which would allow me to go to bed at a decent hour with no guilt.Setup went smoothly, thanks to the help of Elizabeth, who demonstrated an amazing ability to construct wire cubes in no time flat. Here's what the booth ended up

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-13858232720643704392010-06-02T02:04:00.000-07:002010-06-02T02:12:13.568-07:00

Two weeks from tomorrow, I'm heading to Eugene for Black Sheep Gathering. Eeek. For some reason, I thought I had three weeks left, but I was wrong. I just got back from two weeks in Hawaii and now I am in serious, get-down-to-business mode. I've been dyeing up some BFL/silk top and it is the prettiest stuff ever. Soft and radiant--it makes any colorway look good.Aside from dyeing, I've been

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-57081752185735001512010-05-11T10:41:00.000-07:002010-05-11T11:46:12.136-07:00

I've been looking for cardigan patterns for months--since last summer, I believe. It's been surprisingly hard to find patterns that aren't flyaway (buttoned at the top), mostly stockinette, or frumpy. Lately, the search has become focused on finding something summery. I want light and airy but not fingering weight. Finally, I found one I liked--the one on the cover of the April issue of Knit N

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-6056240657728063172010-04-19T21:50:00.001-07:002010-04-19T22:20:50.613-07:00

I'm almost finished with my Vine Yoke cardigan (such a fun knit! Fast, uses less than 4 skeins, and really interesting construction. Plus I'm really liking my new worsted superwash BFL) and I'm on the hunt for buttons. I don't know if I'm just too picky, but I'm having a devil of a time finding round, dark brown, wooden buttons that are 1.5" wide. Sounds so simple, right? Apparently boring,

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-87654695859294676892010-04-14T22:15:00.000-07:002010-04-14T22:17:59.745-07:00

I'm stocking a few skeins of Rock Candy on Thursday at noon ET:http://huckleberryknits.com

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-62066073592677514192010-04-03T17:51:00.001-07:002010-04-03T18:03:23.726-07:00

Doing federal taxes. Torn between wanting to lose more money so that our tax bill won't be so high, and being horrified that I didn't make more profit for all that work. If I'm really going to make a living from this, I need a much better profit than I'm currently showing.It seems like every year is always a "building" year. Last year I had to buy tons of undyed yarn and display stuff for the

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-45821002710130938282010-03-13T23:45:00.000-08:002010-03-14T00:02:08.142-08:00

In between yarn club orders, I decided to use up some odds and ends of dye solutions that have been accumulating on my dye table. It's about time, since I botched a batch of yarn last night by confusing my purple and black dye bottles. Oops. They're pretty, but not what my customers are expecting to get.I had a lot of blue and green solutions around. So I dyed a few skeins of Joy, a big skein of

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-52524632101583800462010-03-09T01:30:00.000-08:002010-03-09T13:50:24.413-08:00

... Stephen West is coming to town. On March 28. There's an open house/trunk show starting at 11:30, and his Shawl Inspirations class, which I'm taking, is later that afternoon. I can't find any info on the workshop, other than what was mailed to me by the store, so it looks like it will be a brand new class. Should be interesting!I've bought Herbivore for the class:(The pattern, that is. The man

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-91729198167023768902010-03-08T01:55:00.000-08:002010-03-08T02:01:29.901-08:00

When I was deciding what to list this month in my store, I decided to organize it by color. This week's theme is red.Might add a few more this week, depending. Everything goes live on Thursday at noon, Eastern Time.Blue will be up next time, probably in 2 weeks.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-52593399918465322812010-03-01T09:41:00.000-08:002010-03-01T09:47:52.819-08:00

Ravelympics inspired me to finish a pair of socks that I started in September. Why yes, I have a severe case of second sock syndrome. The other pair I was intending to finish for the Ravelympics was started last winter.This pair was knitted from a limited edition 8-ply (9-ply? it's been a while) merino yarn. Specs (330 yds, 100g) make it sound like a sport yarn, but it acts more like a fingering.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-81037874014531391462010-02-26T01:25:00.000-08:002010-02-26T10:20:57.457-08:00

Earlier this week, I went up to Vancouver to check out the Olympic scene. We didn't go to any events, just walked around downtown. We saw a bit more of downtown by foot than we'd planned, since I read in a local paper that the torch (or rather, cauldron now that it's stationary, which explains why I couldn't find anything online about where the darned thing was at) was at BC Place. We were near

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-992114542619036642010-02-19T01:01:00.001-08:002010-02-19T01:36:42.557-08:00

One thing that I really loved about Sock Summit was the sense of community. At Sock Summit, I got to meet a number of online friends face-to-face, and I was astonished by the number of times that I felt that click of connection, both with them and with strangers. It doesn't happen all that often in the course of everyday life, and I felt so lucky to have that sense of old-friend comfortableness

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-25509558020184439062010-02-15T22:12:00.000-08:002010-02-16T11:51:32.937-08:00

I headed down to Tacoma this past weekend to check out Madrona. I'm thinking about selling there at some future date. The booth is on the expensive side ($600+ for an 8' x 10' space), so I wanted to do a little market research before committing.After parking at the Tacoma Dome Station, I took Link light rail into downtown. I have a particular fondness for this system, since in a previous life, I

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-9823424799585090282010-02-09T16:27:00.000-08:002010-02-09T16:55:17.567-08:00

I've been dyeing a lot, despite my empty store (which is empty because I haven't had time to do year-end inventory and I didn't want to confuse myself by selling stuff before I'd had a chance to take stock. My brain, it is easily baffled these days). The latest Loopy Ewe order went out yesterday, and when I passed the FedEx Ground truck on the highway south last night, on my way to bell choir

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-52977363199160377872010-01-25T10:31:00.001-08:002010-01-25T10:34:23.892-08:00

My husband took the kiddo away for the weekend so I could spend it dyeing. Worked my butt off, but I'm still terribly behind where I need to be. Plus I have to do my city and state taxes this week (ugh!), and dye for my yarn club.I've come to the unhappy conclustion that I am just a slow dyer. I can whip through colorways that involve just one or two dye solutions, but the more complex colorways

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-77182252889284326532010-01-19T23:10:00.001-08:002010-01-19T23:37:15.909-08:00

I have been in an obsessive knitting mood these past few weeks. After the obligations of Christmas knitting, I felt so free. I enjoyed the projects that I made (and need to do a post about them sometime), but they were still projects with an immovable deadline, and that took just a bit of the fun out of them.Anyway, so I've been wallowing in pattern crushes since then. I've wanted to make

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-82633171914019910252010-01-07T21:36:00.000-08:002010-01-07T21:48:32.532-08:00

My family and I spent Christmas week taking turns throwing up, far from home. First my parents got it, then my kiddo, then me, and then my sister. My husband got the Blitzkrieg bug the night before we flew home. Good times.But now I'm back, and busy dyeing again. This month I'm kicking off my first yarn club, with these two selections. They're called Heartfelt and Garnet. More about their origins

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-44169814996616582892009-12-11T10:43:00.000-08:002009-12-11T11:07:14.542-08:00

I totally forgot to say that I'm doing a drawing for a free skein of Truffula at my store:http://hyenacart.com/prod_details_lottery.php?id=94094&vid=465Why? Just because. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the yarn, but all of its friends from the same dyelot have gone to new homes, and it wanted to find a nice home, too. The random drawing closes Saturday at noon ET, and the computer will

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-51466365052039988272009-12-08T23:53:00.000-08:002009-12-08T23:58:40.504-08:00

Just got through finalizing my listing for yarn club slots, which go live at noon Eastern Time this Thursday. I think I got it set up correctly, but it's a little complicated due to all of the options, so time will tell. I can always manually invoice people if it doesn't work out, but of course ideally I didn't botch it.When designing the club, I thought about what I'd like in a club, and at the

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-1547210433780324952009-12-03T09:32:00.000-08:002009-12-03T09:40:38.785-08:00

Just a note to say that I'm stocking a little bit of yarn at Venus Vanguard tonight--Twilight and Centurion, if you've been looking for those--plus some longies ornaments.And my first yarn club will be stocking slots next week! More details to come, but they will go live on Thursday, Dec 10 at noon E.T.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-80185723035191458882009-11-12T21:44:00.000-08:002009-11-12T22:20:23.739-08:00

For a long time, I was resistant to buying circular needles with tips longer than 3.5". Any longer, and I found that knitting triggered my tendonitis issues due to the angle at which I had to hold the needles. This limited me to Addi Turbos (and the occasional Inox) that were 20" or shorter.When I was just knitting toddler-sized items, this wasn't a problem. But this year I've been much more

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-28577734059644373532009-11-10T22:14:00.001-08:002009-11-10T22:22:44.460-08:00

For about a month, I've been chipping away at the February Lady Sweater when I have a few minutes. I'm using Sirdar's Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran for it, which I got at a huge discount at Sock Summit. I used six skeins for a shawl and liked it, so I decided to go ahead and do the FLS with another color as planned.It's lovely soft yarn, with great drape. Coil spun, so it has a bit of a

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-13476936785386622902009-11-09T22:30:00.000-08:002009-11-09T22:37:31.843-08:00

I've been excited about this for months, but since I have a healthy sense of paranoia caution, I didn't want to say anything until it actually happened.Sheri of The Loopy Ewe saw my yarn at Sock Summit and asked me to dye for her store. Of course I said yes, and I'm thrilled that my yarns are part of her lineup now. The Trillium heavy worsted yarn made its debut today, with sock yarn to follow

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-31456117135862045442009-11-06T23:00:00.001-08:002009-11-06T23:04:21.952-08:00

When I was standing in line, waiting to check out my inventory at the end of the Whatcom Weavers Guild sale a couple of weeks ago, a woman asked me if I had any more roving at home, since all of my brighter braids had sold before she'd gotten there. I started to answer, but got crazy distracted by the checkout process (as my dad says, I am a batch processor, not a multi-tasker--little old-school

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-47172224949768003832009-10-29T02:55:00.000-07:002009-11-12T00:22:25.374-08:00

My yarns will be debuting at a brand new retailer, Pulling at Strings, owned and operated by my friend Jenn. She’s celebrating her grand opening this Saturday, October 31, with some fun contests, so be sure to check it out!Also, I’ve donated two items for a fundraiser for two charities that have been supporting a friend through the loss of her full-term baby. One item is a skein of hand-dyed

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-73552129193421343202009-10-24T20:59:00.000-07:002009-10-24T21:09:01.820-07:00

I have just 17 skeins to go, and I'll be finished with my current wholesale order. Well, dyeing it, anyway. Still need to do a little reskeining of the really tangled hanks, and all the labeling. My husband accidentally threw one of the skeins in with the laundry today, requiring a redye (argh! yes, it's superwash, but the results after heavy agitation aren't pretty) so I think I can get him to

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-91248168885793548882009-10-16T12:17:00.000-07:002009-10-16T13:45:16.343-07:00

I dropped off some yarn this morning for the Whatcom Weavers Guild's Fibers and Beyond show. This will be my second year doing the show. I was a little surprised by how well my sock yarn sold last year, so I brought a bunch of my Willow BFL sock yarn and Cascara merino/cashmere/nylon sport, plus some silk/merino, Targhee and BFL spinning fiber, and a few other random things. It's marked down a

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-58324785282156082672009-09-18T01:59:00.001-07:002009-09-18T02:11:19.714-07:00

Today was an exceptionally good dyeing day. I was productive and efficient, I got more done than I realistically expected, and my perfectionist self could find nothing to complain about. And the feedback from the Winesap pre-orders started coming in, with the kind of comments that make you all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm happy!After a flurry of orders, I'm stocked back up with base yarns. Even the

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-71185961770241989752009-09-12T11:10:00.000-07:002009-09-12T11:20:44.648-07:00

I had every intention of launching a sock club this fall. Then after Sock Summit, I acquired a lovely new exciting wholesale account. The first order, plus a small group order and the Winesap pre-order, have eaten up all my time and yarn storage space. After I finish with all those things, I've got another small group order and a different wholesale order for November and December. So no sock

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-2737103410685047802009-09-02T10:28:00.000-07:002009-09-02T10:34:40.473-07:00

A little bit of sock yarn and sport weight yarn is going up in my own store tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET:And my congo, Venus Vanguard, is doing an Alice in Wonderland themed stocking this week. Items go live at 8 p.m. on Thursday night. If you like gorgeous hand-dyed velour, this is the place to be! I'm stocking some aran and bulky weights in new colorways, Queen of Hearts and Looking Glass.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-37758923010520656402009-08-31T23:52:00.000-07:002009-09-01T10:12:19.931-07:00

I'd thought this would be the first SS09 post I would write, but to my chagrin it's not. I hope my friends know how much I appreciate them.I couldn't have gotten to Sock Summit without the help of my friends, who understood how important it was to me to "go big or go home," as Tina and Stephanie described it during the SS opening reception. (Wish I'd gone, in hindsight; it sounded like a pretty

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-30878148436323572572009-08-27T00:26:00.000-07:002009-08-27T10:47:36.976-07:00

I had a hard time adjusting to normal life after Sock Summit. There was a sense of unreality about the whole experience--I'd spent so many months thinking about it, working towards it, wondering how it would be, and then suddenly I was there and living it. And then it was over.I've never been to anything like it. I think the experience was crystallized in the moment before the marketplace opened.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-74520464362573857382009-08-26T23:52:00.000-07:002009-08-27T00:36:19.457-07:00

Stocking my store for the first time since Sock Summit--I think it's about 60 skeins. This week I've listed some worsted and aran yarns; next week, I'll list fingering and sport weight. I'm trying to offer a balance of bright and subtle colorways each week, so that there's something for everyone!

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-82361180589733546522009-08-20T22:50:00.000-07:002009-08-20T23:02:54.713-07:00

Tonight I dyed yarn for the first time since Sock Summit. It's only been two weeks, yet I'd forgotten two of the basics:1) Always tie your yarn in a few places before you put it in the dyepot. I have no idea how I managed to forget, but I was skeining yarn off cones this afternoon and forgot to tie up one of the skeins . Took it out of the spin dryer and it fell apart, of course. Luckily it was

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-69574525144259734292009-08-11T23:20:00.000-07:002009-08-11T23:29:45.000-07:00

I need to write a SS09 post, but I want to download my photos first. In the meantime, my husband asked me tonight if I wanted to go to "that fiber thing down south," meaning OFFF, which I went to last year as a spectator. I said no, because after the stress of Sock Summit prep, during which he had to do far more than his fair share of housework and childrearing, I didn't think he would want me to

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-7859827872707044082009-08-05T23:40:00.000-07:002009-08-05T23:45:11.708-07:00

Didn't leave town quite as early as I hoped, but after managing to hit rush hour in Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia (Oly has a rush hour now? Who knew?), I pulled into PDX around 7:45. I have little wire cubes and man, they take a while to put together. Now I sort of wish I didn't have a class tomorrow morning, because the booth isn't even close to being put together, and I'm anxious. But I still

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-23047554579335130052009-08-04T16:01:00.000-07:002011-02-03T02:15:15.891-08:00

After eight months of noble sacrifice and self-restraint, I am ready to shop. I already have this lovely skein by Happy Hands Yarn waiting for me: And I'll be participating in the Buffalo Gold stimulus package: bring in a skein of yarn for donating to a group of knitters in Bhutan, and get $20 off a skein of bison down. I'm so curious about what it's like - fell in love with some patterns in

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-73422911832716820292009-08-04T09:52:00.000-07:002009-08-04T09:55:30.454-07:00

I leave for PDX in a little over 24 hours, and yet I'm still dyeing yarn. Why? Because I know it will be dry before I leave. Modern technology only encourages that "just one more bite" mentality. I'm not ready to go, yet I feel strangely that things are all under control. Mostly I'm excited to get there and see how my yarn does. I ought to be waking up from screaming nightmares where my shelves

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-49607530771054770122009-07-30T16:44:00.001-07:002009-07-30T16:45:39.125-07:00

Six days left till I leave for Portland, and I still have so much to do. For a while I was thinking that I didn't have enough yarn left to dye, but now I have too much. My official last dyeing day was yesterday, but I'm going to have to figure out a way to squeeze in some more skeins. Whimper.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-41528880662856017372009-07-26T21:21:00.000-07:002009-07-26T21:22:35.020-07:00

I decided to do some limited pre-orders for my Winesap colorway for pickup at the Sock Summit (I'm in booth #324), plus pre-orders for September delivery. Info is posted in my store:http://huckleberryknits.com

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-37902869757771411632009-07-24T02:31:00.000-07:002009-07-24T02:43:12.602-07:00

... you know you have a problem. I can turn off the dyepot in 10 minutes and go to bed, and it's going to feel pretty darn good. I still have to go to work tomorrow. Ugh.I'm in the homestretch now--the last week of dyeing before Sock Summit. July 30 will be my last dyeing day, and then it's on to labeling and other prep. For my day job, I have a Rubbermaid tote that I call my event box, with all

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-48757106300652520992009-07-13T01:07:00.000-07:002009-07-13T01:24:18.498-07:00

I've never liked the font on my logo, to be honest, and especially not the way the "t" and the "s" look together in "knits." I have looked at literally thousands of fonts, trying to find something clean but not boring or overused. Or that cost $200 to purchase.I do really like the branch, though I wanted to prune it a bit. After some fussing, I came up with two concepts that I like.The first one

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-5716440949061642082009-07-12T10:20:00.000-07:002009-07-12T10:30:12.063-07:00

I've had these itchy patches on two of my fingers for several days. I chalked it up to oddly located mosquito bites, since I've been bitten a lot lately.This morning I woke up with blisters on the patches. Dr. Google says that it's likely irritant contact dermatitis. I threw out my dyeing gloves, will pick up some disposable latex-free ones just in case I'm developing a latex allergy, and I'm

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-24208174704605524112009-06-21T01:04:00.000-07:002009-06-21T01:04:43.475-07:00

Currently, I am trying to:1. Improve my crappy posture, which should help my neck and shoulder problems.2. Cut back on caffeine, also to help with my neck and shoulder (my massage therapist told me about a study she read linking caffeine to stress-related pain).3. Lose 5 lbs so I can wear the fitted top I'm knitting without feeling like my stomach is the first thing someone sees.4. Exercise more

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-67918545728903718892009-06-20T00:51:00.000-07:002009-06-20T01:30:07.913-07:00

I have been living and breathing Sock Summit for the last few weeks. I didn't think I'd be able to take any three-hour classes since I'd have to mind my store. So I wasn't really paying much attention to that, until I had a Revelation of the Blindingly Obvious the day before registration opened, and realized that I wasn't going to be chained to my booth until late Thursday afternoon, so I *could*

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-57652892920876396632009-06-06T22:56:00.000-07:002009-06-06T23:51:34.877-07:00

Sock Summit is exactly two months away, and I'm still dyeing in a rather desultory fashion. My goal for the last three weeks had been to dye 60 skeins a week and, um, I have 57. Total. From three weeks of dyeing. Eeep.To get myself focused, tonight I've been filling in my inventory spreadsheet with the number of skeins I want to dye per colorway, per base yarn. I already feel more motivated. It's

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-80150091124820556892009-05-28T14:02:00.000-07:002009-05-28T15:48:36.426-07:00

First batch of colorways went well today, second batch did not. Argh. As my stressbuster, I'm going to sit outside and try out my new Hiya Hiya circulars on Delphine, before I have to scurry into work. Am using my sport weight organic merino dyed in Huckleberry, which is so nice to knit. Smooth and silky. That should put me in a better mood.Preparing for Sock Summit is a marathon, but as Thursday

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-9975771226891976382009-05-21T22:07:00.000-07:002009-05-21T22:12:05.691-07:00

My friend Tawny of Baby Bean Designs is having a fiber party on Friday, and this is what I'm bringing:This is Inked on Shooting Star merino. I always thought of this yarn as fingering, since I use size 2 needles with it, but then it was pointed out to me that the yardage was sort of sport-ish, at 355 yards per 4 oz skein. And I call my organic merino that's 372 yards/4 oz sport weight ... so for

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-35109700911795838512009-05-20T17:44:00.000-07:002009-05-20T22:20:32.719-07:00

My friend P. pointed out that when I get interested in something, I focus on it obsessively. Battlestar Galactica, the best TV series I've ever watched, is no exception. I was pretty much in mourning when the series ended in March. Naturally, it ended up merging with my ongoing obsession with yarn. (Basically everything does, these days.) I started thinking about BSG colorways. Then about all the

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-68834310794829785482009-05-18T01:51:00.000-07:002009-05-18T21:24:15.170-07:00

One of my constant worries when I'm dyeing a custom order is how closely I'm matching the stock photo. I know that the nature of the hand-dyed beast is the variation among skeins, and I know that most of my customers know, too. I fret anyway.Since January, basically all my dyeing has been for wholesale and co-op orders, so it's been a long time since I've been able to just dye without worrying

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-39780415607263038372009-05-13T20:52:00.001-07:002009-05-13T20:58:48.710-07:00

The Puget Sound LYS Tour begins tomorrow, and my Trillium merino is the featured yarn at Apple Yarns. Today I stopped by to take a photo.Pretty awesome that what started off as a "sure, I'll knit some socks for you" three years ago has evolved into this. Andrea (the owner) asked if I had any more because she's thinking they might sell out, so I'm going to dye her up a bit more tomorrow.Next up:

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-35083757445353136692009-05-10T12:12:00.000-07:002009-05-10T12:12:00.770-07:00

I have looked at literally thousands of fonts, trying to find the new (type)face of Huckleberry Knits. I'm starting to think that the best idea is to just change my name to this font, Natalya Swashes:You may simply refer to me as The Artist Formerly Known as Huckleberry Knits.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-47497549117670783772009-05-09T09:30:00.000-07:002009-05-09T09:37:46.426-07:00

And I'm on it! There are quite a few vendors whose work I'd love to see, having admired their yarns from afar. This is going to be so much fun!http://www.socksummit.com/vendorsI'm in the homestretch of my current wholesale order (which I am dropping off on Tuesday) and as soon as I'm finished, it's on to Sock Summit dyeing. I had been thinking anyway that I was going to bring non-sock yarns, and

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-44928832263503488282009-04-30T20:14:00.000-07:002009-04-30T20:15:52.645-07:00

I'm in the process of transferring my domain to a new host, but in the meantime my URL isn't forwarding to my store. You'll need to go directly to http://hyenacart.com/huckleberryknits. Sorry about the confusion.

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-64256406882989597732009-04-18T00:00:00.000-07:002009-04-18T00:04:48.688-07:00

I'd say there are 76 ways, right about now. Just wrapped up my latest co-op order, which was for 76 skeins. I capped it at 50 variegated skeins, plus an unlimited number of solid coordinating skeins. Usually there are maybe 10 trim skeins. This time, there were 26. I could absolutely not have done this without my electric skein winder. It was well worth the investment--solidly made, flawlessly

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-17026077493571211122009-04-16T22:51:00.000-07:002009-04-16T23:00:58.055-07:00

I finished dyeing a 75-skein co-op order today, and did half of a small wholesale order. All that by 10 p.m. I don't even have to walk the dog tonight--did it already. Just finished my Easter treat to myself, a lovely hazelnut crunch, fair-trade, and organic chocolate bar from Theo Chocolate, a local-ish confectioner. Now *this* is a nice evening--productive yet relaxing. I could get used to

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6843110196725158858.post-17392083537993096332009-04-09T23:14:00.000-07:002009-04-09T23:44:26.837-07:00

Tonight, instead of goofing around on the internet until 10:00, buckling down to dyeing work for a few hours, and then stumbling into bed at 2 a.m., I started working on my dyeing at 8:30. I was finished with everything I wanted to do by 10:37, then washed a backlog of dishes and reskeined a few hanks of yarn. Now I'm browsing through Ravelry forums, eating a dish of coconut avocado ice cream. (

Scarlethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00146489560239858307noreply@blogger.com0